Authors

Document Type

Journal Article

Role

Author

Standard Number

0893-133X

Journal Title

Neuropsychopharmacology

Volume

32

Issue

5

First Page

1141

Last Page

1158

Publication Date

2007

Abstract

Hypoactivity of the accumbens is induced by repeated cocaine exposure and is hypothesized to play a role in cocaine addiction. However, it is difficult to understand how a general hypoactivity of the accumbens, which facilitates multiple types of motivated behaviors, could contribute to the selective increase in drug-directed behavior that defines addiction. Electrophysiological recordings, made during sessions in which rats self-administer cocaine, show that most accumbal neurons that encode events related to drug-directed behavior achieve and maintain higher firing rates during the period of cocaine exposure (Task-Activated neurons) than do other accumbal neurons (Task-Non-Activated neurons).